Straight and Wave's launch of Nine Perfect Lives follows seven years as founding members of the alternative rock band Hello Mary. The new project combines art-rock experimentation with folk songwriting, with the pair spending time writing songs throughout a period of long-distance in which Straight lived in Los Angeles while Wave remained in New York City. "Die" arrives as the first preview of the pair's newest creative leap, alongside a music video directed by Milo Hume.

“I started writing ‘Die’ when I was living in LA and Stella was still in Brooklyn," Straight says of the track. "We made deliberate efforts to stay in touch and work on music but I wasn’t yet sure when or if I was moving back to New York. I wrote and recorded a demo of the song in a few hours and realized that it was a direct response to Stella’s heartbreak and confusion about my impulsive move across the country. Fleshing out the demo together felt effortless and reinforced our creative bond which was compromised in the context of Hello Mary at that time. ‘Die’ became the first NPL song so we are pleased for it to be our first single.”